Nearly 100,000 of Britain’s poorest children go hungry after parents’ benefits are cut

Nearly 100,000 of the poorest children in the UK went hungry last year because their parents’ benefits were stopped or cut, according to a report by a coalition of churches.

A total of more than a million benefit sanctions were imposed last year – sometimes simply because people were late for an appointment at the Jobcentre – although more than 120,000 of those decisions were overturned on appeal.

Researchers found that more than 100 people with severe mental health problems a day were sanctioned.

The report said: “We are disturbed that a benefit system intended to provide for the needy and vulnerable is used as a means of coercion and compliance.

“The penalties often do not appear reasonable or proportionate to the ‘failure’ that has occurred.

“If a similar system operated in a workplace, where pay was removed for a month for being late for a meeting or not achieving a target, we might reasonably expect action to be taken against the employer.”